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There is no officially recognized national sign language in Singapore. Since Singapore's independence in 1965, the Singapore deaf community has had to adapt to many linguistic changes. Today, the local deaf community recognizes Singapore Sign Language (SgSL) as a reflection of Singapore's diverse linguistic culture. SgSL is influenced by Shanghainese Sign Language (SSL), American Sign Language (ASL), Signing Exact English (SEE-II) and locally developed signs.

While Singapore does not have a national sign language, the local deaf community recognizes Singapore Sign Language (SgSL) as Singapore’s native sign language. This is because sign language in Singapore has developed over the last 6 decades since the setting up of the first school for local deaf in 1954. Hence, there is crucial need to preserve and maintain local signs invented by the deaf community in Singapore since the early 1950s.